INTERMISSION: DRACULA CHA-CHA-CHA

Click Here For The MP3 file of Dracula Cha Cha Cha

and if you like that album cover, there's plenty more where that came from at LP Cover Lover.

What movie theater worth its salted popcorn doesn't play music in the auditoriums in between shows? Well, we're no different around here although, as might be expected, the choice in tunes is not quite the same as you'll hear over at your local metroplex. Take this little diddy, for instance, courtesy of The Dracula Library. Dracula Cha Cha Cha was originally recorded by the man affectionately known as the Prince of the Night Clubs, Italian composer and songwriter Bruno Martino. Here's the original Italian lyrics followed by the English translation as suggested by Google.

vampiro dal nero mantello [vampire from black cloak]
di notte tu succhi sul collo [at night you juice on the neck]
le donne di giovane età. [women of young age.]

Dracula Dracula Dra (cha cha cha)

coi bianchi affilati canini [white with sharp canine]
tu fai spaventare i bambini [you do frighten children]
le mamme le nonne ei papà. [the mothers and grandmothers dad.]

Ah! Ah! non far più lo spiritoso [not to make the most witty]
qualcuno può arrabbiarsi e darti uno schiaffo. [someone may get angry and give you slap.]

Ah! Ah! il tuo morso velenoso contagioso [your poisonous bite contagious]
potrebbe far venire un'infezione. [could be an infection.]

Dracula Dracula Dra (cha cha cha)

sei forte sei nero sei bello [six strong six black are beautiful]
perchè non ti succhi un bel pollo [why not you juice a nice chicken]
e lasci le donne campare. [and let women to live.]

Okay, so Google's word for word literal translation, while enjoyably descriptive ("Why not you juice a nice chicken?" Yuck.), leaves a bit to be desired in the readability department. Readers of sacred texts are more than familiar with this dilemma. Take our Christian Bible for example. The original manuscripts were written in two languages no longer spoken anywhere; Classical (Archaic) Hebrew and Koine (Hellenistic) Greek. From there it was translated into Classical Latin, Armenian, and a few others. We didn't start getting English translations until the Venerable Bede began working on one in the late 600s. Today there are literally (no pun intended) dozens of English translations to choose from.

Which raises the obvious question: which available translation is the best? The folks over at Catholic Answers have a short Bible Translations Guide which covers the different methods of translating the ancient texts into a new language and suggestions on how to pick the one best suited to your use. They really like the Revised Standard Version: Catholic Edition, which appears to be the translation of choice for Apologists. The USCCB uses the never published third revision of the New American Bible for readings in mass. This translation doesn't appear to get much respect in scholarly circles, but the USCCB owns the copyright, so I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon. Here at the B-Movie Catechism we use whichever one is appropriate for the topic, but prefer the 1966 Jerusalem Bible for casual reading. Yeah, it has its gaffes like any other translation, but J. R. R. Tolkein was one of the editors and it reads like a dream. What's the worst translation? Well, that's an ongoing argument, but everyone except the Jehovah's Witnesses tends to look poorly on the New World Translation, the only version of the Bible translated by the Jehovah's Witnesses. And since we are on the Internet, it's hard not to mention... The LOLCat Bible.

(Speaking of bad translations. I couldn't help but notice that the above album cover, courtesy of LP Cover Lover, lists the artists covering Dracula Cha Cha Cha incorrectly as Los Dandies. The group's real name is Los Dandys. ¡Ay, caramba!)

And what does the Catechism have to say on the subject? "The Church "forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful... to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ." As for a specific translation, it makes no specific recommendation. Perhaps, in the end, the best translation of the Bible is the one you'll actually pick up and read.